Category: picture books

As February approaches, I am scouring our classroom library to find the picture books that I will read aloud every day in honor of Black History month. I try to stay away from the most known stories, after all, if we are to truly celebrate Black excellence then it is important that my students can name more people than just Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman. And yet, they also need to know these stories. And so for the 21 teaching days of February, I pulled 21 picture books, each featuring, perhaps, a story of someone that my students may not have heard of it. Each featuring something they should know more about. Something that may inspire them to ask more questions, to understand more about the world they live in.

I have pulled many more than this and every surface in here is filled with stories of those who have made our country what it is. I hope that our students will take a moment to reach out, read something, and learn something. It is only a small component of the ways Black History will be explored in our school.

In no special order, here are the picture books I plan on sharing with students. I have a few more purchases coming in, so these may change, but they are a start. Which picture books do you plan on sharing?

Other great resources that help me plan and think of what I can explore with students.

Finally, Black History month shouldn’t be the first time that students see collections of text that feature African American. I know it seems silly to say, but representation matters and it matters all of the time. As I pulled books for this read aloud collection, I had to skip great books because we had already shared those stories. This is how it should be every year in my classroom. So while I continue on my journey to do more and learn more, reading these stories aloud is one further step in my journey.

Another fantastic year of reading and yet I know there are so many books I have probably missed on this list. In the hundreds of books I got to experience this year, these are the ones that stood out. These are the ones that I hope others get to experience. While many were published in 2018, some were not and I am so glad I finally got to read them.

After winter break, we welcome our students back with one of our favorite units of the year; our Mock Caldecott unit. And while I have blogged about the process before, I see this as a great opportunity for students to not only immerse themselves in incredible works of art but also to think about how to read complex imagery while building community. But to do this incredible work, we need to have the books whose images will draw us on, hopefully, mesmerize us, move us, and make us invested when the awards are broadcast live on Monday, January 28th.

One of the picture books that has been traveling the most with me this summer is All Are Welcome written by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. Within its pages is a simple, yet powerful story, of a community where every child is welcomed no matter their heritage, religion, or life story. What an important message to read aloud to all of your students as you set the tone for the year ahead.

Well, did you know that there is a kit that comes along with the book? It can be requested right here to help you use the book. But in even better news; I get to give five copies away! The giveaway ends Sunday evening, is only for US addresses (sorry!), and I will pull five winners at random. All you have to do is enter on this form to be in the running for this book.

For the past many years, our first day of school has included a read-aloud of a picture book. This central part of our classroom journey starts us off right, inviting students in to share a moment of wonder, of laughter. It starts discussions and sets the tone for the year to come. This is why selecting the first picture book to read aloud is such a big deal for me; what tone do I want to set? Which book will help students gain an ounce of trust when it comes to the experience we are about to embark on? Usually, I have students choose the book they want me to read aloud to them, sometimes I choose for them, but in case you need a few ideas, here are the picture books I love choosing from.

Every year I post an end of the year favorite book list but I thought this year, inspired by Colby Sharp, I thought it would be fun to add the titles as I discovered them. Now, these may have come out in 2018 or simply have been read by me in 2018. So here you are, in no particular order, my favorite picture books of 2018. To follow along with these live follow me on Instagram.

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Disclaimer

Of course these opinions, musings, rants and reflections do not express the opinion of my employer. One would be crazy to think that one single teacher could be the mouth piece for an entire district. Nor are my posts meant to offend mostly, nor mislead but rather provide a snapshot of my mind at a certain point in time on a topic.
So please feel free to disagree, agree, compliment or discourage further blogging but promise to not think this is in any way an official mode of communication for my employer. These are my opinions and while I stand behind them right now they may change so while you are at it, don't hold that against me either.

Pernille Ripp is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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